Reinforced column of concrete.



H. WAINWRIGHT & H. A..MINBR.'

REINFORCED COLUMN 0F CONCRETE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1909.

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

Barter n. wanvwmonr, or

NT @FFTQE PHILADELPHIA, AND HOWARD A. MINER, 0F NORRIS- TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

REINFORCED COLUMN OF CONCRETE.

ceases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

Application filed September 15, 1909. Serial No. 517,829.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY H. VVAIN- WRIGHT and Howann A. MINER, both being citizens of the United States, and said HENRY H. VVAINWRI HT residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, and HOWARD A. MINER residing at Norristown, county of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reinforced Columns of Concrete, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in reinforced columns of concrete and similar materials.

The invention relates as well to providing means for protecting the corners or other portions of the exposed surface of the col-.-

umn, as to providing means for increasing the strength of the column, and the invention particularly relates to the combination with the material of which the mass of the column is composed of metal protectors so formed and arranged that they are solidly interlocked or connected with the mass of the column.

The invention also relates to the combination with said metal protectors of transverse metal members hereinafter termed Spreaders which both serve to accurately position the said protectors while the column is in process of construction, and greatly addto the strength of thecolumn; to the longitudinal metal reinforcements embedded in the mass of the column; to the means for holding said reinforcements in position; and to the several combinations of the said arts and elements, as will be further set forth in the description and claims hereinafter contained.

A's heretofore constructed, columns of concrete and like materials have been constructed without metal protectors for the corners or other parts of the outer exposed surface ofthe column; and, particularly when the column is of square or other an-- gular section, the corners have therefore been liable to injury b accidental blows.

It is, therefore, the rst object of our invention to rovide longitudinal metal protectors for tlie corners or other exposed parts of the column to prevent such injuries,which protectors consist of corner bars of steel or other suitable metal provided with heads positioned at the exposed parts of the columns, such as the corners, to receive the blows and protect the column from injury, and also provided with means for locking the corner bars as firmly as possible with the mass of the column. But it is indispensable that the corner bars be very accurately positioned at the proper parts ofthe columns, as at the corners, and be held in accurate alinement in such position by some device which can be readily inserted without interfering with the construction of the column, and the difficulty of satisfactorily eifectin this is increased by the fact that the -co umns are constructed in molds in position in the building, which molds prevent ready access to the interior, except at the .top, during the construction of the mass of the column. Therefore a second feature of this invention is the spread ers, by which the corner bars are held accurately in position and alinement, and the combination of said Spreaders with the cornor-bars. Further, experience has shown that columns of concrete and like materials are liable to diagonal fractures when loaded, and no transverse reinforcement has yet been devised which prevents such fracture, and yet can be employed in columns constructed in molds, in situ; and it is therefore, another important feature of this invention that said spreaders also serve by their shape, location, etc., as will be hereinafter set forth, to so strengthen the column as to have a tendency to prevent such fractures.

The invention also relates, as hcreinbefore stated, to lon itudinal reinforcements which are embedde in the mass of concrete, as well as to devices for retaining such reinforcements in position. For while We can construct columns with the corner bars and sfpreaders Without the longitudinal reinorcements or the said devices, We prefer to use both the said longitudinal reinforcements and the said devices.

Referring to the drawings which accompany the specification to aid the description; Figure l is a perspective view of a column constructed according to our inven tion; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a columnabout on the level of the line 1-1 in Fig. 1, but on a large scale. Fig. 3 is aplan of a modified form of spreader also on large scale. Fi 4 is a plan and Fig. 5 an edge view of another modification of a spreader.

In constructing the column, a mold of planks, not shown, but of the proper size and shape, is erected at the site of the column, a plank or two being omitted on one or more of the sides near the bottom to give access to the interior if desired. Then the corner bars 1 are set up at each corner and extending the length of the column. Each said corner bar 1 18 preferably formed with an integral head 2 extending the length of the corner bar and adapted to be accurately positioned at and form a metal protection for the corner of said column, with a web 3 preferably integral with the head and extending the length thereof, and with an enlargement, or dovetail, 4, along the inner end of said web 3, forming a device to interlock with and tie the corner bars 1 solidly to the mass of the column; and we prefer to form the under side of said head 2- so as to join the sides of said web 3 with rather wide-open angular curved or straight lines, to permit of packing the concrete 01' other material of which the mass of the column is formed under the head 2. Said corner bars 1 being in place, the spreaders 6 are sli ped over the upper ends of said corner ars 1 and dropped to place. Said spreaders 6 are of soft steel or other malleable metal preferably bent to an arc shape, as indicated in Fig. 5, where the spreader is designated by 15, and having slots 7 at the ends to admit the webs-3 and enlargements 4 of the said corner bars. The ends of the spreaders are preferably shaped to fit accurately against the under sides of the heads 2. Said spreaders are preferably arranged in pairs, each spreader consisting of a metal bar, and being arranged in pairs on diagonals of the column, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. But we may form the spreaders as spiders 9, with a plurality of slotted arms l0, l0, as seen in Fig. 3. We may also form said spreaders with roughened or corrugated surfaces, or with teeth or projections, and we may provide said spreaders with holes 11 to receive and lock with the concrete or other material of which the body of the column is composed; and we may turn up the edges of said holes to form the lips or projections 14, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5. Said spreaders being originally arch-shaped are slid down to place at the bottom of the corner bars 11, with the convex sides of said' spreaders up, and then by reaching in through the aforesaid opening in the mold planking which is not shown in the drawings, or by a pole inserted at the top, a sharp blow is given on thefspreaders about at point 16, whereby they are flattened more or less, and force the corner bars tightly out to the corners of the mold, the metal of the spreaders being malleable so that said spreaders retain their flattened form.

The corner bars 1'1 and the lowermost spreaders 6-6 being in position, the reinforcements 1717 are set in place, such reinforcement being preferably steel rods of square cross section twisted orthey maybe of other suitable shape. To hold rods 17 in position, wires 18 are looped around them, about as shown in Fig. 2, and of course the loops might be first formed and then dropped to place over said rods 17. The corner bars and spreaders and reinforcing rods, if such are used, and the wires being in place, and the spreaders flattened, conand spread the arms of said spreader or spider and press the said corner bars tightly out to their exact posit-ions. Then other wires similar to 18 are looped around the reinforcing rods 17 at this point. More concrete is then poured in, packed and tamped, another set of spreaders is put in and fiattened, another wire is looped around the rods 17, and so on until the column is completed to its full height. At its top the column can be secured in any suitable manner to the ceiling, girders, or other parts of the structure.

When the concrete, or other material of which the column is composed, has set, the mold planking is removed, leaving a column with metal corner protectors firmly tied to and integrally interlocked with the mass of the column, and this column also contains transverse reinforcements consisting of said spreaders and wires at such intervals as to"prevent the cracking of the column under load; and it has been shown experimentally that when the spreaders are located as hercinabove described, at distances apart about equal to th diameter of the column, at least two pairs ofspreaders,

or two spiders, will be located within the that various other the reinforcing rods and wires can be varied; that strips of Wire mesh or bands of metal might be used in place of wires to hold said reinforcin rods in position; and fiianges might be made without departing from our invention.

Now having described our improvements, we claim as our invention.

1. The combination in a column, of longitudinal metal corner protectors, and transverse fiexible spreaders curved before insertion in the column and afterward straightened and extended to properly position said corner protectors, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a column, of longitudinal metal corner protectors and transverse flexible spreaders between opposite protectors originall curved to permit of insertion between sai Spreaders and straightened and extended to properly position said corner protectors during the construction of the column, substantially as described.

3. The combination ina column, of longitudinal metal corner protectors, flexible Spreaders provided with slotted ends to receive said corner protectors and originally curved to permit of inserting said Spreaders in proper position, and said Spreaders being straightened and extended to properly posiof metal corner bars, flexible spreaders adapted to reinforce the concrete transversely and curved before insertion, and.

straightened and extended afterward to properly position said corner bars, and said spreaders being provided with means to interlock with the concrete, substantially as described.

5. The combination in a column, of longitudinal metal corner bars, longitudinal reinforcing rods and means for positioning said rods during the construction of the work, and transverse flexible spreaders curved before insertion and afterward straightened and extended to hold said corncr bars in position durin the construction of the column, substantial y as described.

Signed at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, this 13th day of September, 1909.

HENRY H. WAINWRIGHT. HOWARD A. MINER.

Witnesses:

ELIZABETH C. BUR, PRICE F. NORTH. 

